There are two types of children’s films. One that is more for the adults, and the other that is only for the children. This easily fits into the latter of the two, making it painful to watch. OK, it’s not quite as bad as having to watch Barney, I’ll give you that, but its not that far off.

Basically the story revolves around Mike, who claimed to have found the end of a rainbow. However his friends are hard to convince, but eventually they all set out to find another rainbow. After some time, a rainbow is found, and the rainbow transports them everywhere. But while they are inside this gacky coloured rainbow, Mike’s brother damages the rainbow, which threatens life on earth.

The usual children’s movie comic talent is there, but now looking at it again, it is only funny because of how stupid it is. OK, this is definitely a hire disc for the kids, but then again due to its price it may be a viable option to buy.

Video

Audio

Extras

Contract

The video is presented in a pan and scan format of 1.33:1. The transfer is obviously not 16x9 enhanced. Originally the theatrical aspect was 1.85:1.

The sharpness of this transfer is great, with the brightly lit scenes being mastered superbly on disc. Being a children’s film there are no darkly lit horror scenes, so shadow detail is good, for the small shadows that are there. The colours are terribly gacky, but that is the intent of the filmmakers, as it is a rainbow. However in this film the colour does fade to black and white when the rainbow is damaged, similar to the effects used in The Wizard of Oz.

There are a surprisingly large number of film artefacts, given the fact that it is boasted as being a digital film. There are a few small minor MPEG artefacts, but nothing that a blinking eye would see. During some of the faster scenes, these are more apparent. There is no irritating film grain on the disc.

The disc is single layered, so therefore there's no layer change. Aliasing can be seen throughout the feature which gets to such a point that it is distracting.

There are, unfortunately, no subtitle tracks on this disc. The hearing-impaired people will have to go without.

There is one audio track, and that is in Dolby Digital 2.0 English. The dialogue was easy to understand throughout the feature, with dialogue and effects levels just right.

The soundstage is fairly empty due to the lack of surround channels, and the left and right speakers get their own discrete action, but it's still lacking compared to other stereo tracks. There is no surround or digital subwoofer usage on this disc.

The music comprises short pieces of score, and pop music, like any film which hits the target at attracting kids attention, and suits the tone of the film very well.

A surround track would have been ideal for this film – it has the potential to be a really good transfer.

The extras on this disc are surprising. The menu is presented in the 1.33:1 aspect with no animation or audio. The usual theatrical trailer is here, again 1.33:1 with a Dolby Digital 2.0 audio track. The most surprising feature is the making-of documentary. It is such a high quality feature, especially for the genre of film, the target audience and the age. It runs for approximately 24 minutes, and looks at casting, digital effects, music and stunt work. This also is presented in an aspect of 1.33:1 and with Dolby Digital 2.0 audio.

Overall, the video is reasonable, as is the audio, but a widescreen transfer, and 5.1 or even Pro-Logic audio would have made it so much better. The special features are reasonable, except the documentary which stands out as one of the better features seen. The film is lacking for adult audiences, but should appeal to young children. Why not hire it, and give it a try?